Anyone who has followed just about anything I write has most likely come to the conclusion that I believe in the power of affirmations. Daily affirming the presence of God in all of God’s magnificent glory working in, and through, and as our lives, has a powerful way of lifting our belief and trust to new levels of faith. First person, present tense affirmations such as, “Right now I am experiencing the presence of God moving me to new understanding and clarity in my life” are game-changers. They help to move us to a new awareness of that presence that is always with us and to the truth that we are never alone.

There is another powerful way to affirm God’s presence and it is one that is not always easy for people to do. It involves looking at oneself in the mirror, right in your eyes, not moving your gaze, and speaking to yourself in the “second person.” In this way we would affirm, “You are a beautiful creation of a God who knows only good. You are a blessing to all with whom you come in contact and you touch the lives of many.”

The interesting thing about this exercise is that, one, it is often easier to see the fullness of God for another than it is for oneself, and, secondly, it can be difficult to look oneself in the eye and not allow old tapes of our feelings of limitation and lack to overcome us. Deep within all of us lives the sum total of everything we have experienced in life. Good or bad, these thoughts, just beneath the surface of our consciousness, have shaped and formed us to be who we are. Looking at oneself in the mirror and affirming the truth of who you are as God’s creation will begin to change how you see yourself and your place in God’s world.

You are wonderfully made by a God who loves you unconditionally. Remember to tell yourself that often and then go forth to live that truth in the world. Live that truth in the words that you utter, and in the thoughts that you think. Words and thoughts both for yourself and for all those with whom you encounter. Your life will change in wonderfully miraculous ways.

Affirmation: In the mirror: “You are a child of God. Loved completely, just as you are.”

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13: 12)

We all seek to gain more knowledge, we all desire to know how things work and what we can do to move things along when what we desire to experience seems to be moving slowly. In our frustrations with life we often think, if we could just put our hands on certain things we could push, or pull, or force what we want to happen. Our sense of needing to know, to understand and to have ready answers seems to be an entitlement that under some circumstances we need to release.

I think there can often be comfort in our not knowing, for it is in our not knowing that we realize we also don’t have to make everything happen. We don’t have to shoulder burdens beyond our capability, or have to feel as though we need to fix the world. Some things are just not meant to be our burden. We can relax and have trust and faith that things are being handled. We can stop and remember that there is a power in the world far greater than us that loves us and pours forth a blessing that awaits our acceptance of it.

For example: We don’t have to make the universe work, God does that. We don’t have to make the tides of the ocean move in and out, God does that. We don’t have to make sure the stars stay in the sky or that the sun rises and sets each day just when it is supposed to do so. God does that. We don’t have to make our healing happen, God does that. We don’t have to make the answers to our prayers happen we just need to trust that we are unconditionally loved and blessed abundantly. God will take care of our life and do so better than we could ever imagine.

There is a great deal unknown to us about the mystery of God working in our lives. What we can know is that God does create for us and we can see the results of that creation all around us, but “how” God works we do not need to know. We do not need to know the HOW because we know the WHY, and the why is that we are cherished, blessed, given the gift of perfect grace, supported and renewed beyond all human measure and that God loves unconditionally. Yes, unconditionally. We don’t have to know all the details. What we can know is that in God’s infinite wisdom and abundant power God has it all handled.

Those things we are to know, and those things we are to do God will reveal to us when and was we need to know them. As we release our hold on always having to know or be “in charge” we open up a new space for miracles to appear in our lives in beautiful ways we had never before thought possible. Releasing our hold on what we think has to be creates room for what more beautifully can be.

How do we move toward accepting this truth of God in our lives? Two words can make all the difference. Just two words can change our thinking and perspective and get us started on a whole new outlook. Those words? “Thank you.”

Affirmation: “I don’t have to know how God performs miracles, I only need to know that God does. Thank you”

Perhaps one of my all time favorite songs is “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II for their Broadway musical “Carousel” it has never failed to lift me up when I have felt down. It has always brought me feelings of being closer to Spirit/God in times of stress or upset and it has always brought sensations of joy and happiness to my heart. Just hearing this song causes me to think thoughts of possibility, new adventures and new hope. It’s as if in the darkest of situations suddenly I remember that there is a light up ahead that will shower me with a new day and a new realization that even in those darkest moments I had not been abandoned.

This song was sung (at my request) at my ordination into ministry and filled me with excitement as I contemplated what lay ahead for me. On Palm Sunday two years ago the song was sung by Trisha Yearwood on television in the spectacular program “The Passion” and the night I saw this I just had to rewind the DVR several times and re-watch her magnificent rendition. I was brought to tears of joy and feelings of the presence of God washing all around me.

Whenever I am about to embark on a new project, a new adventure and especially a move to a new location, this song seems to just naturally come to mind. I wonder if it’s authors knew when they wrote it what amazing impact it would have in the years ahead. It speaks of a great and wonderful truth for us today; that through our lives we can never walk alone, for Spirit/God is always right where we are at every moment. We need not look far off in strange places to find this presence, but we need only look within. The beating of our hearts, the moving of our breath is a wonderful sign of Spirit’s presence and activity in our lives. In what we are doing now, and where we are going, through the deepest valleys of life and through the highest mountains of experience, we are loved unconditionally.

God is always a God of “What’s next?” As close as our very next thought. God is always a God of creating something wonderfully exciting for us to experience. And God is always right with us at every moment, giving us everything we need, just as, and when, we need it.